The so-called holiday season has passed and we have embarked on a new year. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired in so many senses of the word.

Thanksgiving and Christmas yielded wonderful family reunions and fellowship with friends. I ate too much, laughed a lot and slept every chance I got and then some, all with a naughty smile on my face. I reveled in the joyous spirit that tends to surround the season when you ignore the commercialism.

But I’m tired. In between working long hours and traveling long distances, I feel like I’ve not really had a moment to myself. There were always places to be, people to see and tasks to complete. It has been a hectic schedule.

I’m also tired of listening to the news. It just flat wears me out to consider how our government can’t get its act together. We the people are expected to obey the law of the land and pay our dues as citizens of the great United States of America. And yet politicians don’t seem to follow the same rules we do. The very people we’ve voted to represent us have chosen to exempt themselves from walking in our shoes.

I am tired of what lacks in my life right now. I miss reading a book or watching a movie for the sheer enjoyment. I miss flipping through my scrapbooks — or scrapbooking for that matter. I miss staring off into space, daydreaming without the interruptions or the noise.

What I really miss the most is spending those sacred moments with God. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be time to simply sit in His presence and be still.

This past weekend I worked on developing playlists for my husband’s iPod. He wants to enter the digital age, so for Christmas, I downloaded all his CDs and purchased additional songs from iTunes. Afterwards I danced down memory lane with my own CDs and stumbled upon dozens of contemporary Christian albums from my youth.

I wanted to cry. It reminded me of all those “quiet times” I had with Him. It reminded me of where I used to be in my relationship with Him. It reminded me He used to be the No. 1 focus in my life.

This made me tired of my current state of mind.

I want to yearn for Him. I want to walk with Him again. I want to rest in His lap. I want Him to show me His glory again. Most of all, I want to go home.

One of the albums I rediscovered was Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Greatest Hits” CD. I stayed up late and listened to the songs, every one of which still speaks to me nearly 20 years later. One in particular reminded me He is waiting for me — “Not Home Yet”:

“To all the travelers/Pilgrims longing for a home/From one who walks with you/On this journey called life’s road/It is a long and winding road

“From one who’s seen the view/And dreamt of staying on the mountains high/And one who’s cried like you/Wanting so much just to lay down and die/I offer this, we must remember this

“We are not home yet/We are not home yet/Keep on looking ahead/Let your heart not forget/We are not home yet/Not home yet

“So close your eyes with me/And hear the Father saying, ‘Welcome home’/Let us find the strength/In all His promises to carry on/He said, ‘I go prepare a place for you’/So let us not forget

“We are not home yet …

“I know there’ll be a moment/I know there’ll be a place/Where we will see our Savior/And fall in His embrace/So let us not grow weary/Or too content to stay/’Cause we are not home yet”

As you journey life’s road in 2013, let your heart find hope that you can carry on no matter how tired you are. We can look ahead and know a day is coming when we will be reunited with Him.



Follow Ruth Ann Replogle on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Just-Hold-On/419800328081972 or email her at justholdonrr@gmail.com.